


Home Is Where Your Heart Is

by Mustang_Girl16



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Buying a HOUSE, F/M, Fluff, Romanogers Secret Santa, Vibrators are Not for Throwing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 03:59:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14370432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mustang_Girl16/pseuds/Mustang_Girl16
Summary: Steve and Natasha just want a little privacy okay.





	Home Is Where Your Heart Is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ernyx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ernyx/gifts).



> Cross posted on Tumblr and I don't know why I'm just getting to posting it on here.

Steve knocked on Natasha’s door as he listened closely for any evidence of movement. She wasn’t in her office or the common room so he figured this could be the only logical place.

“Nat, it’s Steve, I’m poking my head inside, so don’t shoot.”

Steve stuck his head into her room only to find it empty. He was about to back out when he heard a muffled curse coming from the closet. He walked into her room going to the closet door and pushed it open to find the spy sitting on the floor with a bottle of wine and leftover take out as she watched some bald eagle on her tablet. She turned her head to look up at him and he raised an eyebrow.

“Nat, is there a reason your hiding in your closet?” She shifted, pausing the documentary.

“I’m not hiding…I’m simply taking some me time.” Natasha responded. “Now, you can either stay or go, but either way just shut the door.”

Steve decided to stay as he shut the door behind him and joined her on the floor. He didn’t have to ask to know why she was taking some “me time”.

“I left for two days…what happened?”

Natasha sighed taking a swig from the bottle.

“Well, let’s see, non-stop nagging questions. Woke up to a unicorn in my bed. Again. Seriously why can’t he just invade Wanda’s room?”

Steve shrugged. Pietro had developed this sort of habit of invading Natasha’s room when he couldn’t sleep. Or for whatever reason really.

“Then, I decided that I should go out because I don’t honestly remember the last time I left the facility grounds that wasn’t for a mission and headed to the bar. Thought I’d at least flirt and hey maybe he’d take me home, but nope. No, instead the hot bartender proceeded to ask if it was a mom’s night out without the kids. He thought I had kids, Steve. _Kids_. And when I asked why he would assume that, he said he’d seen me with two teenagers in the store the other day. He meant Wanda and Pietro. He thought I was old enough to have not one, but _two_ teenagers!”

Steve blinked, unsure if he should respond to that. They were young, only eighteen, and well technically if she’d had them as a teenager herself…

“I mean, seriously? Do I look that old?”

Steve rolled his eyes.

“Nat, that doesn’t mean he didn’t think you were hot. Or wouldn’t have taken you home. You’re only what? 34, your still young so relax.” Steve said in hopes that he would get this silly notion out of her head.

Of course, as she pursed her lips taking a calm deep breath he knew he’d messed up.

“I’m thirty-one, Steve. _You’re_ thirty-four.”

_Opps?_

“At least you’re not as old as I am. I’m practically the same age as their grandfathers.”

She frowned at him, stabbing her fork into the take-out container and shoving whatever was in it into her mouth. The force of it warning him to watch what he said.

“Yes, well here’s the thing Steve. For men, getting called “daddy” usually leads you to several very good rounds of kinky sex. For women, getting called “mommy” or a guy saying something along the lines of “you remind me of my mother” usually leads to you being tied to a bed in his basement next to mommy dearest corpse. Either way, it’s not ending in anything pleasurable for me.”

She sighed going back to her food,

“Let’s face it, I mean I knew turning thirty meant that life was just supposed to slowly decline, but for my entire life to become non-existent? It’s like we might as well have kids. No, I take that back, actually having kids would be better because at least I would have had some form of a sex life, and a steady one no doubt. Now if I want it I either gotta pay for it or take care of it myself, which has only become harder, thank you Vision."

Natasha grumbled as she continued stabbing her fork into the container. She looked up at him and sighed.

“Can you not look at me like I’m crazy? Horny yes, but I’m not going to jump your bones. It just pisses me off.”

“Good to know.” Steve replied half-heartedly because he honestly wouldn’t mind if she did. Hell, he’d thought about it a few times himself. What did bring him back was the mention of Vision though.

“Uh…what does Vision have to do with…you know?” Steve asked her, stopping her tirade on the take out. She sighed setting her food down.

“Well let’s just say he may or may not have walked, or more accurately, floated in on something he shouldn’t have.”

Steve felt his ears burn, a new image he was sure not to forget now engraved in his mind. Too bad it’s engraved in Vision’s to.

“Well maybe he’ll learn.”

Natasha laughed, taking another swig of wine.

“Oh, he wanted to learn alright. He got that look he gets when he’s trying to figure out what or why we’re doing something and then proceeded to ask why on earth I would want to stick you know what where I was instead of going out like all the other females.”

He must have looked somewhere between mortified for her and shocked as she laughed tilting the wine bottle at him.

“Yeah, no it gets better,”

Natasha got up taking his hand as she led him back out to her room and he was quite honestly horrified at the thought that this story could “get better”. She stopped him in front of the wall facing her bed and he noticed something was different as she walked up to it. She had a jacket hanging on the wall and he noted the hook was new and in a fairly odd place. When she ripped the jacket off the wall it clicked. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to laugh, cry or run.

He chose silent.

“Is that…” Steve said pointing to the vibrator currently imbedded in her wall when he found his voice.

“Yup.” Natasha responded tight lipped.

He couldn’t tear his eyes away no matter how much he wanted to and he scratched the back of his head because he had to do something other than stare at it like an idiot.

“How did you even…”

“Well after Vision conveyed his curiosity I got even more pissed, yelled at him to get out and proceeded to throw it at him as he made his escape. Turns out if you throw something at him as he’s passing through walls it’ll go with him. Still not sure whether or not I would have preferred it went all way through. At least I would have gotten it back.”

“Wow…”

“Yup…”

She looked to him and he eyed her carefully as she looked to the wall.

“Hey do you think…”

“No.” Steve answered, flat out.

“Oh, come on! That thing cost me a fortune and it’s been randomly turning on and off and the switch is sadly the part in the wall and someone’s gonna notice soon and I really don’t want to explain to them how it got there.”

Steve crossed his arms.

“Nat, I’m not getting it out.”

“Please?” Natasha asked smiling sweetly.

“No. If you didn’t want to lose it, you shouldn’t have used it as a projectile.”

She frowned actually stomping her foot and crossing her arms.

“He’s lucky it wasn’t a knife! I cleaned it already when I tried getting it out myself, and if anything, it’s me who’s going to be embarrassed since _it’s mine_. Come on Rogers you left me alone with them for two days!”

Steve groaned, throwing his hands up.

“Fine I’ll get your damn toy, but only if you stop throwing things and _never_ mention this again.”

She nodded and he went over to the wall. Out of all of the things she could have thrown it had to be this? Was she trying to kill him? _Just don’t think about it._ Steve knocked on the wall to see how hard he’d have to pull before bracing with one hand and grabbing with the other. It came out easily, but sadly she now had a nice hole in the wall. He walked back over to her and she made a grab for it, but he pulled it out of her reach.

“Promise me, verbally, that you’re going to stop throwing things at people.” Steve said looking down at her.

“Fine, now give me my damn toy.”

He shook his head at her and was apparently taking too long, as she made for it, the surprise and force of it knocking him off balance.

“Fuck Nat!” Steve cursed as she landed on top of him. He glared at her and she glared right back at him.

“Uh…”

They both froze, looking over Natasha’s shoulder to find all five New Avengers standing at the door, _horrified_. He also realized he was still holding onto the vibrator and it didn’t look good at all. Natasha’s gaze was back on him in an instant, fire in her eyes.

“I thought I told you to close the door?” Natasha snapped.

“You told me to close the closet door not the bedroom door!” Steve defended.

“Everybody knows you close the main door!” Natasha huffed grabbing the vibrator back and standing up.

He got to his feet and sent a glare to the group.

“What?”

They all looked at each other shaking their heads.

“Nothing, uh…we were going to ask what’s for dinner, but you’re apparently busy so we’ll just go to town.” Sam answered and the others nodded.

“Oh, I get it now, you use it as replacement for your partner.” Vision said, causing everyone’s attention to go to him.

One look at Natasha and Steve knew she was aimed to kill.

“Okay, everybody out!” Steve ordered just as Natasha made to throw the vibrator, yet again, at Vision. Steve caught her this time, as everyone scrambled, ripping the toy from her grasp.

“Really?!” Steve scolded when she escaped his grasp.

“What? He’s not a person! Now give it back, Rogers!” Natasha snapped, he narrowed his eyes at her.

“No. You can have this back when you learn to stop throwing things.” With that Steve left the room only to have her shout down the hall,

“Get your own damn vibrator!”

“Use your hand!” Steve shot back.

The look of shock on her face was almost enough for him to forget about what they were yelling at each other… _Almost._

* * *

Steve was sitting at the kitchen counter a few hours later going over reports when he looked up to see Natasha standing across from him. He frowned.

“You’re not getting it back.”

She rolled her eyes, sliding into the seat next to him.

“Forget it, I already ordered a new one. But I’ve come up with a solution to our privacy problem.” She said sliding a tablet his way.

He picked it up expecting to see some kind of intricate lock system or something of the like and was surprised to find a map of the surrounding area around the facility. Red dots scattered within a twenty-mile radius.

“What is this?”

“Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that if I want any kind of life outside the Avengers than living here isn’t an option.”

Steve raised an eyebrow.

“Your moving out?”

Natasha hesitated, moving the tablet closer to her, that innocent look that told him there was a stipulation.

“Well I mean, I want to, but there’s kind of a lack in apartments in the area.”

“So…?” Steve asked trying to move it along.

“So, I thought maybe…since you know, you actually respect my privacy and I rarely want to kill you…we could maybe invest in something together. If you want to that is.” Natasha added at the last second when she noted the hesitant look on Steve’s face.

“You do realize that living with a straight guy isn’t really gonna do anything for your sex life, right?”

She shrugged.

“Let’s face it, it wasn’t like I was gonna ever find “a one” anyways… _don’t._ ” Natasha warned holding up a hand when she saw his face get slightly sympathetic.

“I’m not someone people bring home to mom and I’m fine with that. But I just…I need someplace I can go to shut it off for a few hours and that’s not possible here. And I totally understand if you don’t want to, but I think you still need a place of your own away from here anyways.” Natasha explained.

She wasn’t wrong. And it’s not like they _needed_ to live on the grounds. But the thought of buying a house with it only being him…the houses weren’t small around here. Not to mention he’d kinda given up on the whole family and perfect life thing anyways. The thought of living with Natasha even as they were, was just something he didn’t think he could pass up though.

“Alright, but I don’t need a separate place. Well separate from everyone else.” Natasha smiled, it was bright and maybe even a tad bit hopeful.

“You sure?”

Steve smiled taking the tablet back.

“Yes, besides it’ll be cheaper and your clean so…”

She nodded like it was obvious.

“Great, then tomorrow morning I’ll get in contact with a realtor and we can start looking. But uh, I think we can both agree that this should stay between us for the time being.”

Steve nodded. The last thing the team needed to know was that they were planning to move. Especially Tony, God he could already hear the teasing. As for the others well…that only increased their chances of them following.

“Agreed.”

They took the opportunity as the team was still out to discuss a few options for realtors and get an idea of what they needed and what they wanted so when they sat down with the relator they could answer any questions. By the end of it both the soldier and the spy had an extra little glint in their eye.

* * *

The next day Natasha contacted a relator that FRIDAY had gotten vetted for them and they made their escape to meet with the woman at her office. She’d offered to come to them, but the risk of one of the “kids” seeing her was not something either wanted to risk. They both knew how to be discrete and were able to make it to her office without being seen.

So far everything Natasha had looked up about Darlene Fry checked out. Realtor for nearly thirty years, recently moved from the city to set up a branch from her firm in the area and highly praised for finding people exactly what they asked for and for some high-end clients too. No social media except for her business, but she was clean and as she and Steve sat down in Darlene’s office she could tell she was going to like the woman.

“Well hello, I’m Darlene Fry, Miss. Romanoff I know we spoke on the phone but I must say it’s an honor to be meeting you both.” Darlene greeted as she sat down in front of them.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Steve said shaking her hand.

With the pleasantries out of the way Darlene got down to business.

“Alrighty, so since you both don’t have another house to sell on the market or apartment you’ll be buying this home out of pocket, which for new home buyers isn’t uncommon, but I need to know price range where are we?”

“We both agreed that price can be negotiated, it’s more location and size. Nothing huge, it’s just us, but we do need it to be within a half hour of the facility, forty-five minutes at most.”

Darlene nodded writing down everything Natasha was telling her.

“Okay, well the market’s tight, with it being mainly new homes and they’re up there in size too, but I think I can work my magic.” Darlene assured them and they made plans to meet at the first house in a couple of days.

* * *

“Hey you ready?” Steve asked as Natasha walked out into the common room.

“Yeah, where are the kids?” Looking around she saw a few dishes in the drying rack.

She really didn’t want them finding out about this little house hunt of theirs. Not right now. It was bad enough as is, but she didn’t want anyone following them.

“They already left for morning drills. I told them we’d be back from our meetings around six. They were confused with all the meetings lately, but took my word for it. So, we should probably get a move on before they get more suspicious.”

Natasha nodded as Steve got up and they made their escape.

Natasha pulled the car to a stop at the end of a long drive. The house was about a half hour from the facility and seated back in a woodsy area of property.

“It’s blue.” Natasha commented, looking over the house as she and Steve got out of the car. It was _very blue._

“It can be painted.” Steve gently reminded as they walked up to the front porch where Darlene was standing.

“Moring, well, what do you think?” She asked about the house.

“It’s…nice.” Natasha said cautiously.

“You’re gonna be the hard one, aren’t you?” Darlene asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Hard to judge without going inside.” Natasha responded and Darlene smirked unlocking the front door and leading them inside.

“Alright my dears, it’s 3500 square feet altogether a little more than I think you guys were aiming towards, but this is mainly so I can get a feel of what you two really want.” Darlene explained as she led them through the entry.

The first thing she noticed was the white shiplap on the walls, and the separation of the rooms. It was good if someone broke in, but bad if she was trying to get out or you know take the guy out. But despite all the white and walls it was warm and the dark wood floors were nice. The kitchen island a plus, but other than that it was…well it felt cramped for such a large space.

Watching Steve, she could see his shoulders hunching slightly and she knew he was thinking the same thing. No. But Darlene seemed to know this already as she suggested they move on to the next house.

“No.”

“You haven’t even seen it yet.” Steve countered and she raised an eyebrow.

“It’s tiny, and not in a large, just walled way.”

“It’s narrow.”

Natasha sighed nodding and Darlene smiled.

“It looks small because of its narrow design, but just bear with me.”

“Okay, let’s see what this house is hiding.”

Walking inside she could tell it was recently re-done.

“Hello kitchen.”

Open, it was suddenly open. But Steve was right, it had more room then it gave way to. But it was so open. Walking further into the house she was surprised that the openness ended. It wasn’t bad in all honesty it just…wasn’t it.

“Thoughts? You two are kinda quiet.” Darlene commented and Natasha shrugged looking to Steve.

“I like it.”

“More than the last?” Darlene asked trying to coax a usable answer from her.

“Yes. Steve?”

“It’s surprising, looking from the outside in.”

Darlene nodded pulling her lips into a line in thought.

“Okay, uh let’s switch it up then. Come on.”

After two more houses these ones larger colonials that didn’t impress either party they decided to call it a day. The drive back to the facility was silent, but she could see Steve had something on his mind.

“What is it? I can practically see your gears turning.” Natasha said a few minutes into the silence.

“Did you like any of them?”

She shrugged. The second was nice, but it was just a house.

“Second was nice.”

“So, you hate it?”

She sighed.

“I didn’t hate it, I just don’t see it I guess…I don’t know. I’ll know it when I see it.”

_She hopped._

* * *

Natasha groaned as she walked into her room to find Flash in her bed this time. She was really wishing Sam hadn’t gotten Pietro those damn onesies now. The one person not afraid to invade her space. She sighed gently closing the door as she made her way across the hall to Steve’s room. She knocked before popping her head inside.

Steve was sitting on his bed doing reports and looked up nodding as she slipped inside.

“Unicorn again?”

“Flash this time.”

“Ah.”

Natasha settled down next him on the bed reading over his shoulder, she noticed he wasn’t doing reports anymore, but looking at houses. Darlene had mentioned she wanted to try a new tactic and would be emailing them.

“Darlene asked if we would look at some of these and see if they interested us.” Steve explained showing her the list of houses.

They were new builds only twenty minutes from the facility, but she wasn’t so sure. They were big for one, in neighborhoods for two, and kind of lavish for hers and Steve’s tastes. They also weren’t built yet. She shook her head,

“No point in looking at something not built.”

Steve sighed,

“This was your idea, remember that. The others aren’t in any better of a location then the previous ones, and I know you won’t like them.”

“Might as well look, besides location what else?”

Steve sighed pulling up the other list.

“Well they’re older, kind of need some fixing up and while it’s within a half hour, it’s in a busy area.” Steve explained and that’s when it occurred to her.

_They’d really only looked at what she liked._ He barely commented at all only just when he knew she was about to dismiss something.

“You know what…you pick.” Natasha said, handing him back his computer.

Steve frowned. “Me?”

Natasha rolled her eyes.

“Yes, you. Who knows maybe we’ll get lucky…and _no picking what you think I’ll like._ ” Natasha made sure to emphasize that last part knowing him.

“Alright, as long as you’re sure.”

Natasha smiled easily, settling in next to him as he closed his computer.

“I’m sure. Come on let’s get some sleep.”

Steve nodded, turning out the lights and settling in beside her. They were both on the verge of sleep when something started vibrating violently. Natasha sat up straight as Steve stared wide eyed at her.

“Seriously?”

Steve looked like he wanted to die.

“In my defense…I forgot I still had it.”

“And you thought a good place to hide it was under you bed?” Natasha questioned, trying to hide her smirk.

“At the time it seemed logical, because it was so stupid…now though…”

“Uh-huh.” She let her smirk surface, but right as Steve was about to retort the door flew open and none other than Tony Stark entered.

He paused raising an eyebrow, then frowning in confusion before a devious grin surfaced.

“A mattress vibrator…didn’t know you were so adventurous Rogers.”

Natasha laughed pushing the covers aside and walking from the room. He got himself into it, he could get himself out of it. Now just how to remove the Unicorn her room?

* * *

The next morning was packed with early morning training sessions with the twins, two meetings with the Army then the Navy, and a demonstration of Tony’s latest toy. By the time two o’clock rolled around she really wasn’t in the mood to go house hunting.

“Come on Nat, Darleen was kind enough to work around our schedules.”

She sighed heavily getting out of the car and joining Darleen at the front porch of a ranch style home, built in the early 2000’s, hardwoods throughout, (with the exception of the stairs and bonus room), four bedrooms with a bonus room above the garage, a little over 2300 sq. Ft _and_ while they’d have neighbors, there was enough distance between them that she couldn’t see inside their house inside hers without binoculars. The brick was wrapped around the house, giving it classic feel.

As she walked around she noticed Steve’s demeanor change. This was it…so why didn’t it feel like it? Natasha sighed walking back out of the house. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Why did she think this was a good idea? Moving in with Steve? _What the hell was she thinking?_ She knew he had feelings for her and she won’t deny feeling the same, but they couldn’t. Could they? This felt like something people who wanted to grow old together would do. Not a former assassin and a super-soldier who just wanted space.

“Natasha?”

Natasha turned around to find Darlene standing behind her.

“I can’t do this.”

“I know.”

_What?_

“What?”

Darlene sighed coming to stand next to her.

“It’s too…permanent, right? For two people who are supposed to be friends.”

_Where was she going with this?_

“My Ma used to say ‘home is where the heart is’ and currently your heart is stuck between two places. The way I see it is, you’re never gonna find someplace until you figure out your hearts place. Figure that out and everything else will seem miniscule in comparison.”

“What? So you think if I tell Steve how I feel it will settle everything?”

Darlene laughed.

“Honey, I don’t think admitting anything to Steve is your problem. It’s the original reason that’s your problem.”

With that Darlene walked away leaving her to think. She really hated it when people were right. Walking back inside she found Steve in the kitchen. He smiled tilting his head.

“That a no?”

She shook her head.

“Steve…I don’t think we should do this.” She watched his face fall and it nearly broke her heart.

“Nat…”

She walked up to him standing on her toes to seal their lips, effectively silence him.

“I love you, and I want this, I do, but I also want the craziness and the interjections and lack of personal space.”

Steve blinked clearly caught off guard.

“Please say something.” Natasha asked after a few more moments of silence.

“I love you too…but uh…you don’t want to live there, forever right?” Steve asked, seeming to catch on.

Natasha laughed,

“God no! I’m not suicidal. But I think maybe we got caught up so much in our lack of space that we didn’t see we weren’t the only ones looking for home?”

Steve sighed nodding. The team was their family, it didn’t feel right without having them there.

“So, what do you want to do?”

“Well…” Natasha bit her lip and Steve could already tell where this was going.

* * *

_Three days later…_

“Are we there yet?” Pietro asked again from where he sat next to Wanda in the back seat.

“I can’t help but feel like we’re being punished for something.” Sam said piping up.

“You’re not being punished and yes were almost there.” Steve replied, tilting his head towards her, “You sure you want to do this?”

Natasha smiled shaking her head.

“Not at all, but I do like the idea that if they’re here than we can still go elsewhere.”

They pulled into the drive of their newly purchased house and she could practically hear the gears turning as everyone got out of the car.

“Uh, what is this?” Rhodey asked pointing to the house.

Natasha smiled looking up at Steve.

“Our new house!”

The team blinked slightly confused.

“So, you two are finally moving into together?” Wanda asked a bit of excitement in her voice.

“Yes.”

There was a collective sigh of relief.

“And you said it wouldn’t work!” Pietro blurted, and their eyes snapped to the young mans.

“What wouldn’t work?” Natasha asked carefully.

The team backed up slowly.

“Well uh, funny story actually…” Sam started,

Then it all clicked. The sudden clinginess and invasion of privacy…

“Did you guys purposefully drive us crazy, so we’d move out?”

“Look you guys know we think of you like family…” Rhodey began and her face turned stern.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“So, this entire thing was a set up to get us to move out?” Steve asked again and they all relented nodding.

“Look you guys are great, but it was just time. I mean, the sexual tension alone was enough, but then the constant checking up on us, and rules, I mean we thought by calling you guys ‘mom and dad’ you’d get the hint, but well…” Sam revealed, and she thought back on the last six months.

“It was just time. You two should really have a place all your own anyways.” Wanda concluded, and it occurred to her that they thought she and Steve were already together.

“You guys understand that we’ve only been together for like four days, right?”

They all nodded smiling.

“Oh, we know, that’s another reason why this had to happen.”

“Anything else we should know?”

“Yeah, Darlene…she’s my mom, but she is a licensed realtor, just retired.” Sam informed.

_How far had they gone to set this up?_

“The constant bickering?”

“Mostly faked.”

“Pour timing?”

“FRIDAY.”

“Did you guys set up Vision too?” Natasha asked, and they cringed.

“No…that was an unfortunate accident, but hey whatever it takes right?” Pietro said with a nervous laugh.

Natasha’s jaw tightened as she looked to Steve.

“And to think, we were gonna let them have a spare key…”

“And free weekend passes.”

“Even when we were out of town.” Natasha clucked her tongue shaking her head. “Oh well.”

She looped her arm through Steve’s, before taking the spare key from her key ring and tossing Sam the car keys. “Don’t wait up, you all are clearly capable of starting morning drills without us.”

“Whoa, wait what-hold up now!”

“Can’t we talk about this?”

“Guys? Guys!”

_The End!_

 


End file.
